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Do you have an electric roller blind or venetian blind and want to integrate it into your smart home? With Home Assistant and the extension Cover Time Based you can control your roller blinds intelligently and check their exact position at any time. In this blog article, I'll show you how to make your roller blinds smarter, the Cover Time Based-extension and thus ensure more comfort in your everyday life.
For detailed instructions and an explanation of all configuration options, I recommend the YouTube video linked below. In this video, every single setting is explained in detail so that you receive comprehensive instructions for the exact setup. You can find any code from the video in this article so that you can use it directly without having to type it in.
What is Home Assistant?
Home Assistant is an open source platform for home automation that aims to connect and centrally control all devices in the home. It is designed to provide a unified user interface and simple, flexible control for a variety of smart home devices from different ecosystems. Here are some points in favor of Home Assistant:
- CompatibilityHome Assistant supports thousands of devices and services from various manufacturers, including lighting, air conditioning, heating, cameras, weather sensors, voice assistants and more.
- Local controlUnlike many commercial smart home platforms that rely on cloud services, Home Assistant runs locally on your network. This means increased privacy and reliability, as your smart home devices work even without an active internet connection.
- Automation and scenesOne of the main features of Home Assistant is the ability to create complex automations and scenarios. For example, you can have lights switch on automatically when it gets dark or turn on the heating when the temperature falls below a certain level.
- Simple user interfaceHome Assistant offers a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to monitor and control devices. This interface is fully customizable.
- Integration with voice assistantsHome Assistant can be integrated with voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant to enable voice-controlled control of your smart home devices.
- Open source and community-drivenSince Home Assistant is open source, it is supported by an active community that is constantly developing new integrations and improving existing ones.
- Data protection and securityAs a locally running platform, Home Assistant has the advantage that the data remains within its own network. This protects privacy and increases security compared to cloud-based solutions.
In summary, Home Assistant is a powerful and flexible solution for those who want to design their own smart home and control their devices centrally, regardless of the manufacturer or ecosystem.
What is the Cover Time Based extension?
The Cover Time Based extension allows you to precisely control electric blinds and shutters based on the time they take to open and close. Not only can you open and close your blinds automatically, but you can also set their exact position - e.g. half open, fully closed or somewhere in between.
By using this extension, you can add precise control to your roller blinds without the need for additional sensors. Everything runs via timers that you simply set in Home Assistant. The only thing you need are smart switches that need to be integrated into Home Assistant to trigger the process of raising and lowering the electric blind or shutter. This is a simple impulse for which any switch could probably be installed.
Installation of HACS and integration of Cover Time Based in Home Assistant
Step 1: Installing HACS in Home Assistant
Home Assistant Community Store (HACS) is a custom add-on for Home Assistant that provides access to a variety of custom integrations and plugins developed by the community. How to install HACS:
- Check requirements: Make sure that your Home Assistant is ideally up to date.
- Download Execute script: Open a terminal for the Docker container version or the core version.
- Docker: Dial into the container with:
docker exec -it homeassistant bashor (similar) - Core: Switch to the user who is running Home Assistant
- Execute the following command for both variants:
wget -O - https://get.hacs.xyz | bash -
- Docker: Dial into the container with:
- Restarting the Home Assistant: After the files have been copied, restart Home Assistant.
- Integrate HACS into Home AssistantGo to "Configuration" > "Integrations" > "Add" in the Home Assistant interface and search for HACS. Add it and enter your GitHub token if prompted.
For the supervised version, please refer to the Documentation of HACS itself to read about the installation.
Step 2: Add cover time-based integration via HACS
Once HACS is installed, you can simply add Cover Time Based:
- Open HACS: Go to HACS in the Home Assistant interface.
- Search for integrationClick on "Integrations" and use the search function to search for "Cover Time Based".
- Install Cover Time BasedFind Cover Time Based in the list and click on "Install". This will add the integration to your Home Assistant.
- Restarting the Home Assistant: Start Home Assistant again to apply the changes.
- Configure Cover Time BasedAfter restarting, you can set up and customize Cover Time Based via "Configuration" > "Integrations" in Home Assistant.
Conclusion
With these steps, you have successfully installed HACS in your Home Assistant and added the Cover Time Based integration. This powerful combination opens up a world of additional features and customizations that have been and are being developed by the Home Assistant community. More blog posts and videos on useful integrations to follow. If you don't want to miss out, subscribe to my YouTube channel!
The features of the Cover Time Based extension in Home Assistant
1. time-based position control
One of the main features of the extension is the Time-based control of the position of your roller blinds or venetian blinds. This means that you can specify how long your roller blind needs to fully open or close. Based on this time, you can then precisely control each position.
Example:
If your roller blind takes 20 seconds to open fully, you can set the automation so that the roller blind stops after 10 seconds at 50 %. This method is ideal if you do not want to use expensive positioning sensors.
2. integration in Home Assistant
The extension integrates seamlessly into Home Assistant. You can use all the usual Home Assistant functions such as automations, scenes and dashboards to control your roller blind.
Example:
At 7 o'clock in the morning, you want your roller blind to open automatically to 70 % so that some light comes in, but not the full sun. You can easily automate this with Home Assistant and this extension.
![CURRYSMARTER WLAN roller shutter switch, [6 Gen] blinds switch with controllable LED, smart roller shutter timer requires neutral conductor, roller shutter control compatible with Echo Alexa/Google, 4 pieces](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41xv-J-Q1cL._SL160_.jpg)
![CURRYSMARTER WLAN roller shutter switch [6Gen] works with Alexa, roller shutter control with child lock, roller shutter timer requires neutral conductor, blinds switch compatible with Echo Alexa/Google, 80x80mm](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31cG5bTbY7L._SL160_.jpg)
3. simple configuration
The setup is simple. In the Home Assistant configuration files, you specify how long your roller blind needs to fully open or close. The extension then automatically calculates the position based on the time.
Example of the configuration:
cover:
- platform: time_based
covers:
living_room_blind:
name: "living room roller blind"
traveling_time_down: 20 # Time in seconds to close the roller blind
traveling_time_up: 18 # Time in seconds to open the roller blindThis example shows that the living room blind takes 20 seconds to close completely and 18 seconds to open completely. You can create your automations based on this.
4. control positions directly
With this extension, you can control positions directly. This means that you can not only say "open the roller blind" or "close the roller blind", but also specify exact positions such as 25 %, 50 % or 75 %. An angle of inclination can also be set, by the way, see the Configuration options.
Example:
Would you like your roller blind to only open halfway? You can simply say in the configuration or by voice command (e.g. via Alexa or Google Assistant): "Open the roller blind to 50 %". Home Assistant and the extension will take care of the rest.
5. linking with automations
Thanks to seamless integration, you can connect your roller blinds to all other smart home devices and sensors. Imagine your blinds closing automatically when the sun goes down or when a certain temperature value is reached. The possibilities are almost endless.
Example of automation:
automation:
- alias: "Close roller blind at sunset"
trigger:
- platform: sun
event: sunset
action:
- service: cover.close_cover
entity_id: cover.living_room_blindIn this case, the blind closes automatically at sunset. You can of course also create more complex scenarios, such as adjusting the position based on the outside temperature or the brightness in the room.
YouTube video implementation
Conclusion
With the Cover Time Based extension, you can control your electric blinds or shutters easily and precisely - without expensive sensors. Time-based position control is a clever and cost-effective solution to make your smart home even smarter. You have full control over the position of your blinds and can integrate them into your Home Assistant automations. Whether you want to wake up gently in the morning or protect your privacy in the evening - this extension makes your home even more comfortable and efficient.
Test it yourself and take your roller blinds to the next level!
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